strep b 3 years on

[charlotte41]

My little girl was born with group b strep, I had all of the symptoms.. went in to labour at 37 weeks, temp in labour. When my little girl was born she was floppy, did not cry. They took her to neonates but then gave her back to me that day and said she was fine. That night i went to the toilet and when i came back my little girl was blue! i shouted for help and the midwifes ran and took her from me. I knew at this point that something wasnt right and worried for her life! they then took her back to neonates and left me in a ward full of crying babies ( the worst possible thing to hear when your newborn baby girl has been taken from you) the next day they took tests on her eg a lumber puncture to rule out things such as meningitis. But still no word of strep b!! later that day she was eventually diagnosed and had to stay in baby care for 2 weeks on an intravenous antibiotic drip until the infection had cleared. At the time I did not think about why this happend to her, could it of been prevented? Everytime my now 3 year old has a cough or cold I panick! I am also thinking about having another baby but am to scared that this will happen again! and would appreciate any info or advice! Thankfully I do have a healthy beautiful little girl but i was one of the lucky ones! so many newborns and being affected or even killed by this awful infection that is so easily preventable.

[GBSSadmin Partner Volunteer Group B Strep Support]

I'm so sorry your daughter was so poorly - what a nightmare for you all. And what a shame the risk factor of fever in labour was missed and you weren't offered antibiotics in labour which might have averted her infection. I'm delighted to hear she's made such a marvellous recovery.

Because your daughter had GBS infection, it means you should always be offered intravenous antibiotics at the start of any future labour. This is standard guidance for the whole of the UK and is hugely effective at preventing these horrible infections in newborn babies.

Do give us a call on 01444 416176 or email us at [e-mail] if we can help at all. You might also find some of the info on our FAQ page helpful - gbss.org.uk/FAQ

[Mumsincheshirestaffs]

Glad to hear Group B Strep Support have contacted you. My daughter had Group B Strep and she is now a happy, healthy 9 year old. We have to think of ourselves as lucky that we got through it and, whilst I know how you feel so early on if anything is wrong with her, this does get easier with time. You are simply being a protective mum. Stay in touch with gbss.org.uk as they are a lovely team and can advise you far better than the general community. Good luck in having another baby too.